Abstract

In adults, stimuli associated with reward capture attention, even
when task-irrelevant, resulting in distraction (Awh et al., 2012). Here we
examine whether rewarded stimuli capture attention in 2-year-old children.
Toddlers (N = 46, mean age: 28;10, range: 19;16 - 36;18) performed a visual
search task where the target switched between blocks. Search arrays consisted of
the current target, a previous target, and six feature conjunction distractors.
On each trial, the current target was cued, and following a fixed search period,
rotated as a reward. We used a Tobii T120 eye-tracker to record toddlers’
eye-movements. Following a target switch, toddlers fixated the current target
before the previous target, despite the previous target’s recent reward
history F(1, 44) = 31.183, p < 0.001). Our study is one of the first to
investigate the early development of reward-based attentional selection.